At last week’s Writers’ Virtual Coffeehouse session, the topic of finding time to write came up, so I’m going to share some thoughts I shared with the group.

Fair warning, I’ve said this kind of thing before, so feel free to skip it if you don’t need me wagging my finger at you. Otherwise…

Whenever I chat with aspiring writers, I frequently meet people who have book ideas that they’re really excited about. They’ll go on at length about how the idea came to them, and how much they think about it, and what a great novel it would make — the enthusiasm for the idea is there.

These encounters frequently end with, “As soon as I find time to write it…” or some variation thereof.

I won’t belabor the point here. If this is you, the “I don’t have time to write” non-writer, I can pretty much guarantee that you DO have time to write and you’re simply choosing to do something else with that time.

Get past the mandatory time commitments — work, school, shopping, household chores, etc. — you have countless things taking up potential writing time: hobbies, working out, social time with family and friends (coronavirus notwithstanding), sleeping in…

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with spending your time on things you want to do, things that bring you happiness and relax you, but if that’s your choice, then you need to stop lying to yourself — and that is what you’re doing when you claim you have no time to write. You’re divesting yourself of all personal responsibility and shifting the blame onto life in general.

“I don’t have time to write” isn’t a reason; it’s an excuse.

“But I’m serious! I want to write!” you say. Well then, something’s got to give somewhere. Cut back on your daily gym time. Take a pass on the weekly game night with friends. Take a walk in the woods every other weekend instead of every weekend. Wake up an hour earlier each day.

Make time to write.